Ukrainian-Russian war: what is Zelensky’s “peace formula” and what is Russia’s answer?
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“I may waste my time, but the peace issue is worth it.”
It was with these words that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky began his speech at the G20 summit on Tuesday, where he presented his plan to end the war with Russia that has been going on since February 24.
“I want Russia’s aggressive war to end fairly and according to the United Nations Charter and international law,” said Zelensky, who addressed counterparts from the world’s 20 largest economies via videoconference, gathered in Indonesia’s beach resort of Nusa Dua.
Zelensky, however, warned that he would not accept peace “at any cost”, which was clearly expressed in his “peace formula”.
Moscow immediately rejected this proposal.
Sovereignty and independence is a priority
Zelensky’s proposal had 10 points, including his country’s “restoration of territorial integrity” and the withdrawal of Russian troops.
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Zelensky made any negotiations with Russia conditional on the return of the occupied territories and the withdrawal of troops from Moscow.
Since the Kremlin launched a “special operation” on February 24 under the pretext of “denazification and demilitarization” of its western neighbor, its army has occupied nearly 20% of Ukraine.
“Russia must reaffirm Ukraine’s territorial integrity within the framework of UN resolutions and legally binding documents. This is not subject to negotiation,” he said.
Zelensky once again called on Moscow to order its troops back into its territory.
“Russia must withdraw all its troops and formations from Ukrainian territory, Ukrainian control of all our borders with Russia must be restored. This will lead to a real and complete cessation of hostilities.”
However, he said the possibility of ending hostilities would not be enough and his country’s independence would remain “in jeopardy”. The reason? Ukraine is not part of any alliance and therefore demands new international agreements to guarantee its security and sovereignty.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has ruled out any negotiating conditions on the return of the Ukrainian province that Moscow annexed last September.
The proposal Moscow simply rejected. “He (Zelensky) complicates the possibility of reaching an agreement by setting unrealistic conditions,” said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
And these three points have been rejected by the Kremlin in the past.
“I want to be heard in Kyiv and in the West: the people of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporiyia have been citizens of our country forever,” Russian President Vladimir Putin himself said in late September.
“There is nothing to say about Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporiyia,” he warned.
For people and energy
The return of the thousands of Ukrainians who had been transferred to Russia is another demand of Zelensky’s proposal.
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Kyiv demands that Moscow stop using the Zaporiyia nuclear power plant as a weapon to blackmail its troops and the rest of the world.
“Thousands of our citizens, civilians and military, were detained and suffered brutal torture,” he said.
“We know that eleven thousand children have been forcibly deported to Russia and separated from their parents knowing full well that they have families,” he added while confirming that these children had been identified.
The fifth demand of the plan concerns punishment for war crimes in places like Bucha.
“Every time we liberate our country, we see one thing: Russia is leaving torture chambers and mass graves full of murdered people,” said Zelensky, who called on leaders to support the creation of a special tribunal to punish human rights violations committed since February. . 24.
The sixth demand of the roadmap presented by the Ukrainian leader is for Moscow to stop its efforts to “weapon the cold” and stop its attacks on power plants.
The seventh proposition is also related to energy, but to atomic energy. Mr Zelensky called for ‘radiological safety’ to be restored and demanded that Russia stop using the Zaporiyia nuclear power plant as a ‘radioactive bomb’ which is ‘blackmailing the world’.
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Zelensky demanded that Russia stop using food and energy as weapons in an attempt to divide the country and its allies.
food for the world
The indefinite continuation of a program that allows Ukraine to resume grain exports and measures to prevent further damage to the country’s forests and other natural sites is another.
Finally, he asked that everything that was agreed to be put down on paper.
The fact that Minister Lavrov was in the room when Zelensky presented the “peace formula” was taken as a good sign, says BBC Russia’s Olga Prosvirova.
However, the subsequent reactions of the Russian and Moscow diplomacy chiefs clearly demonstrated that, despite the advance of the Ukrainian army, Putin was not ready to change his mind.
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Russia responded to Ukraine’s proposal with new missile strikes on a number of towns and villages.
Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Ukraine did not want to negotiate.
“Ukraine, neither de facto nor de jure, can and does not want to negotiate. The goals of the Russian Federation will be achieved by resuming special military operations,” Peskov said.
Hours later, Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities were hit by Russian missiles.
In recent days, Ukraine’s allies have signaled their desire to see the two sides sit down to end the conflict.
